Princess Plait
by votepenguins03
Summary: Izzy's having trouble with her first plait. Can anyone help her?


**Princess Plait**

Izzy was six when she first wanted her hair down in something more complicated than a ponytail. She tried asking her mother but never even got as far as her office door. It was upsetting and dejecting but shouldn't really have been surprising. She tried to do it herself but given that she couldn't see behind her head all she ended up with was a tangled mess. That was how Alec found her a few minutes later, sat at her vanity table with her hair doing a good impression of a lion's mane. He didn't say anything. Instead, he picked up the hairbrush from where it had been thrown across the room and encouraged her to stand. He shifted her stool next to her bed, coaxing her to settle while he knelt beside, wiping the tears from her cheeks and gently kissing her forehead.

"Don't worry little sister, I can fix it." He sat on the bed behind her and slowly and gently began brushing out the tangles.

She had no idea how long they were sat there. She couldn't see her reflection anymore, so it was impossible to see what Alec was doing. She could feel the gentle pull and movement of her hair and the slight tug of the brush. Her brother began humming Frère Jacques, a memorable tune which was not a traditional Shadowhunter lullaby, but rather a song Alec sung when she couldn't sleep. She found the combination of the song and her brother's soft voice incredibly calming.

Izzy felt herself relax as though all the upset from earlier was being brushed away and her eyes even felt a little heavy, as though she could fall asleep, safe in her brother's company.

Two hands squeezing her shoulders woke her from her thoughts and she realised the humming had stopped. Her brother whispered, "all done."

When Izzy moved back to her vanity table to look in the mirror she wasn't expecting much; just a ponytail or even a simple plait, so she couldn't believe what she saw. The reversed French braid started at the top left of her head, down the centre of her head to the end of her hair. The sides of the plait had been pulled out making it look dramatic, a true statement piece. Somehow Alec had known exactly what she'd wanted.

The young Shadowhunter turned her head this way and that to see the braid from as many angles as possible.

"So," came a hesitant voice behind her and in the mirror, Izzy could see Alec still sitting on her bed with his hands clasped together in that way he did when he was nervous. "Do you like it?"

A grin instantly spread across Izzy's face. She ran back to her brother and easily climbed onto his lap, his arms instantly embraced her, wrapping around her waist, so she wouldn't fall. She took a second to school her face, to look serious, as she answered her brother.

"Alec, it's perfect." It seemed to take a moment for him to process the words then his mouth stretched into a grin. A _real_ grin. The kind that reached his eyes and made them sparkle. The kind that was rare to see and was extremely contagious. Izzy's 'serious face' dissolved immediately and she mirrored her brother. She didn't know how he'd learnt to braid hair and to be perfectly honest in this moment she didn't care.

"Thank you." Alec just shrugged as though it was nothing. As though her Shadowhunter big brother who hunted demons for a living and spent every free minute practicing his hand to hand combat or firing arrows hadn't just gently braided her hair.

They were interrupted by a knock at the door. "Alec?" It was Jace. "Are you in there?" Alec gave an affirmative shout and he and Jace started having a conversation, through the door, about the training session they had scheduled, Izzy couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that her brother would have to leave.

Izzy felt the arms around her waist tighten and she wrapped her smaller arms around her neck to return the hug, she loved his 'big brother hugs' they made her feel special and safe all in one, after all he didn't hug just anyone. Her arms tightened reflexively when Alec stood up with her still in his arms, he also tightened the embrace before depositing her on the bed, he released her with a kiss to the forehead.

"A princess plait for my Princess." With that he was gone. Back to their reality, probably to train with Jace, leaving Izzy sat with an uncontrollable smile on her face and a warm feeling in her chest. When she did leave her room, it was with her head held high and a confidence she'd never felt before.

She was his Princess.

She was special to him.

Whilst she had always known her brother loved her it was something else to hear him say it, in his typically blunt, 'I have no idea how much these words mean to you' way.

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It didn't take Izzy very long to learn how to do her own hair, once the young Shadowhunter decided she was going to learn something, whether it be runes, pathology or plaiting, she would sit, learn and practice until she was perfect.

Over the years Izzy had had her hair in many different, extravagant plaits, mostly done by her, but she'd never attempted to copy the plait done by her brother or asked him to repeat it. She didn't know if Alec had noticed but he'd never asked her about it, so she never brought it up.

Except this day. On this day she needed it. And as she walked down the aisle in her, rather extravagant, gold dress with her big brother by her side and the end of her reversed French braid brushing against her back, she felt every inch the Princess.

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Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the story. Please leave a review telling me what you think.


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